Random Stuff!

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I have a general idea of when I want to work on everything- Monday/Wednesday/Friday for already written novels, Tuesday/Thursday for planning/writing prompts and Saturday/Sunday, I’ll either take a break or work on whatever I feel like working on.  I need some kind of structure, and I figure it’ll be easier to focus my attention on each project if I have specific days to work on everything.  It really makes me glad I have my binder, because it’ll be a great way to keep everything organized. 

My writing “schedule” isn’t etched in stone or anything, so I’ll change it when I feel like I need to but I definitely need to get working on everything because I feel weird not working on my NaNo novels and my long-forgotten fanfics. 

Part of it is definitely my inner editor.  It’s like there’s this voice telling me that my projects aren’t worth working on (even though they are!) because they’re crap.  I’ve never finished anything I’ve started, but I am determined this time, because I like some of what I’m written, and I really want to see these projects to the end of the 1st draft.

I do have another fanfic idea.  It’s really more of an inkling, than an actual idea, so I might work on it, I might not.  At the rate I’m racking up these plot bunnies, I might have to do my own version of NaNo in some other month.  Or…I could use script frenzy as my way of getting started on these ideas.  But instead of doing a script, I could write a novel or two.

Socks!

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Today is another writing prompt day!

Today’s Prompt: What would you do if your new shoes felt fine in the store but now they are hurting?

I’ve lost track of how many times that has happened to me!  It’s pretty much been when I’ve tried to break in new flats at work.  Usually it takes a couple days to break them in because I’d stand and walk around a lot, but then I was fine.  Band-aids helped, as did those liner sock things.  The ones that go over your feet and are no-show?  Those were definitely a lifesaver, and saved me a lot of band-aids and time trying to find new pairs of shoes.  Not that having a lot of shoes is a problem, but it frustrating breaking in new shoes at work. 

And speaking of socks, I’ve taken to wearing patterned socks lately.  And mismatching them!  Not that I wear socks often, since I pretty much wear flip-flops all the time, but if I’m going to wear socks at home, why not mismatch?  It’s not like anyone is going to see.  And I like to think that I’m honoring Dobby’s memory by doing so. 

In other news, I’ve expanded my top ten book list to 24, which I’ll post at some point.  I was aiming for 25 books, but I failed to come up with a 25th book, so I’ll leave it at 24 for now. 

I’ve settled on a schedule for all my novels and projects, but I have yet to stick to it.  I have been writing in my journal, and I’ve been updating my blog (obviously, right?), so I have been writing, it just hasn’t been anything super creative.  The main problem I have is actually sitting down and doing it- I have no problem during November, so it shouldn’t be a problem the rest of the year.  I think it’s a mental thing. 

I also haven’t read any of November’s novels, which is weird because usually I’ve read them by now.  They should be pretty entertaining once I get around to it- anytime I need a good laugh, I try to re-read my NaNo novels because the stuff that I end up writing is always a surprise.

Why I Write

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Today’s post is devoted completely to why I love writing and reading.  No blog about writing is complete without me talking about why I write.

I’ve written in journals since I was about 12, and in high school, I started (but never finished) a couple harry potter fanfics and a couple original stories, plus I wrote a lot of poetry. 

I was diagnosed with depression when I was 17, but looking through my old journals, it’s definitely been there since I was 12.  And when my grandpa was sick when I was in college, I was the main caregiver for him.

Writing was my best (and at the time, only) way of dealing with everything going on around me, and my way of getting the ideas floating around my head out onto paper.  

Since I felt like I couldn’t talk about what was going on (semi-long story, but it boils down to family issues), I turned to writing, since it’s my way of expressing myself, and working out what I was feeling and writing about everything going on around me, even when I didn’t understand what was going on.

It’s definitely an important part of my life, and November reminded me how much I love writing, and that I do need to write on a regular basis.  Even if I don’t write everyday, it’s still something that I need to do.  One of my earliest memories is of my grandpa taking me to the library every week.  He loved reading, and my love of learning and reading definitely came from him.  Writing definitely became an offshoot of that, mainly because I’d finish reading a boook, and wonder what happen to the characters after the book ended.  Or I’d wonder what would have happened if event B happened instead of event A. 

So that’s why I started writing, and where I got my love of reading.  And you got to learn a little more about me, which I hope gives some insight into my writing, and the ideas that pop into my head.

Writing Prompt!

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I’ve done a couple writing prompts this year, and they really are fun.  Just writing about the topic kind of de-clutters my brain, and I’m starting to find that it gets my mind going. 

Today’s prompt is: what do you think about while you exercise?

Mostly how long I’ve been there, and much longer I have to go, which is why I try to cover up the timer with my towel, so I don’t think about it.  Not that it stops me from looking every few minutes, because it really doesn’t.  I spend a lot of time thinking about what song I should listen to next.  Or if I happen to be looking at one of the tv screens, whatever I happen to be watching.  Sometimes random stuff that I don’t remember.  Other times it’s stuff I need to do.  It really does depend on what’s going on.

So I’ll be doing different prompts this month, but whether they’ll be continued throughout the year depends on how it goes this month, so we’ll see.

When Plot Bunnies Attack, Part 3

Posted in Other Projects, Post-NaNo Wrap Up by

Today’s edition is about some of the plot bunnies I have just floating around.

  • some variation of a girl who is trying to get away from a terrible home situation; she gets out of it by either leaving in the middle of the night or is saved by someone that she’ll eventually fall in love with
  • one plot bunny I found was about a girl who moves to Starville for school and falls in love with an EMT

I also have a few plot bunnies that came from the most fabulous group of people that I spend my Saturday mornings with, so I didn’t actually come up with these ideas myself.

  • fictional autobiography of someone- using a real person, but making up their life story
  • someone who gets dragged into something (I have accidental spy written down); they’re incompetent but get the job done
  • an amateur detective solving something small (like who stole their wallet) but instead solve something big (like a homicide) 
  • a teen comedy

I definitely will not be working on any of the above ideas for the next year, as I have 6 different novels and 3 potential novels.  Plus, the first couple ideas, I’ve completely lost interest in because it’s something that I’ve gotten out of my system by now.  The ones from the brainstorming thing with my saturday morning grow don’t interest me at the moment, but I’ll just leave them in case they ever grab my attention.

Non-Writing Resolutions

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Not all of my New Year’s resolutions are writing-related, of course.  So I thought I’d share some of my non-writing resolutions.

  • go to the gym: I know this is the most popular resolution in the history of ever, but I really don’t mind going to the gym.  And I don’t go as often as I should, so I’ll be sure to go a few times a week.
  • Volunteer somewhere: I have a lot of time on my hands, and volunteering would be a good way to fill some of my time.  Plus, I’d be helping people, and it’ll be something I can put on my resume, plus it’ll give me some new skills.  I’ve already settled on volunteering at a library, which I did in high school, and for a year or two in college, and I kinda miss it.  I’m thinking about volunteering at another place too, so I’m on the lookout.  Something that would give me experience in public health/social work would be preferable.
  • Settling on a grad school program: I know I want to go back to school, but I’m still trying to decide between library science and public health/social work (dual masters would be preferable, but if that’s not possible, then one or the other will work).  So my volunteering would definitely help me along with my decision, and explains my preferred places to volunteer.  And I still have to look at schools, and figure out which ones are a good fit. 
  • Bake and cook something new every month: I love baking, so I’ve decided I need to bake one new thing every month.  I don’t cook a lot, but I’ve decided to cook one new thing a month as well, in order to get better at cooking.  And as a bonus, it’ll be great to have almost a years worth of stuff that I can eat during November.
  • Read a new book/re-read a book every month: not only do I have books that I haven’t read yet (and a few more I never finished), I have quite a few books that I haven’t re-read in a long time, so I’ll be reading/re-reading one book from each list every month.   

Writing Resolutions

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Here are my writing resolutions for 2011:

  • Write at least 3 times a week.  More is preferable, of course, and I’ll definitely try to write everyday, but if I don’t, it’s okay too, because I have plenty to work on.
  • When I don’t write (or even when I do), I’m going to be working on one of my other projects.  I have a few other things I want to write, so I’ll be planning other novels.
  • Actually start editing/revising one or two of my novels- there’s a couple that I actually wouldn’t mind working on, and would love to edit. 

I’m hoping 2011 will be full of fun writing adventures!  And next month, I’ll be doing NaBloPoMo, which stands for National Blog Posting Month, so I’ll be updating everyday.  Not everything will be writing related next month, but on days when I’m not talking about my writing or an actual topic in mind, I’ll be using writing prompts.

When Plot Bunnies Attack, Part Two

Posted in Other Projects, Post-NaNo Wrap Up by

So today’s post is about the original, non-NaNo stories and the poetry I found.

The first story I found is about a girl who had an alcoholic/abusive father.  She and her mom left, and started a new life, and the girl ends up getting accepted into a prestigious performing arts school, and follows her through her junior and senior year of high school.  It was posted over at fictionpress, so I had to consolidate everything into one file, but it wasn’t too bad, since it’s only around 4100 words.  I skimmed it, and it could definitely use some work, but it’s not something I’m interested in working on anytime soon.   

The other story I found was this girl who leaves home because she can’t handle having to take care of her grandparents.  It’s around 9500 words.  I definitely won’t be working on it anytime soon, since I’m bored with the whole theme of a girl with a terrible home life leaving home.

And poetry!  I used to write quite a bit of it, and I started reading a few of them.  It was rather depressing, as evidenced by the fact that a lot of it was about death and hate and sadness.  I apparently had a lot of trouble dealing with what was going on during the couple years I wrote all of it.  I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to writing poetry, so I’ll wait it out and see if it ever strikes my fancy.

There will be a 3rd installment of when plot bunnies attack in which I will talk about the different plot bunnies I’ve accumulated and actually found.

When Plot Bunnies Attack, Part One

Posted in Other Projects, Post-NaNo Wrap Up by

I haven’t written much, other than a couple hundred words or so for Wildflower.

But I’ve been very productive in other ways- I finally went through the notebooks sitting in my writing drawer in my desk, and consolidated all of my ideas, weird dreams, interesting things I’ve seen and heard, and interesting people I’ve come across into one file, currently saved in my brand new writing folder on my laptop.  I also have a written copy in my magical writing binder. 

I also went through the stuff I wrote in high school and my 1st couple years of college.  I found 3 Harry Potter fanfics, 2 original novels, and a bunch of poetry. 

I found a Fred/Hermione story, which got to around 33,000 words (around 45 chapters or so).  And because I posted it over at fanfiction.net, each chapter was in a separate document, so consolidating them into one file was mildly annoying.  I only read certain parts, but it’s really not that bad, considering it was my first attempt at writing anything, much less something that long.  I’ve read most of it, and decided it’s something I want to pick up again, especially since I invested a couple years into it. 

I also found a Draco/Hermione story, which was around 3200 words before I pretty much abandoned it.  And like the previous story, it was posted on fanfiction.net, so every chapter was in a separate document, but it wasn’t too annoying consolidating it.  I’ve only skimmed it, but I’ve definitely decided I want to keep working on it as well. 

The last fanfiction I found was Snape and Tonks, and while never posted over at ff.net, I think at some point I was planning on posting it, because yet again, the chapters were in individual documents.  Since it was only 2 or 3 chapters, consolidating wasn’t bad at all.  And according to a note at the beginning of the 1st chapter, it was supposed to be a side story to the Fred/Hermione one mentioned above.  I’ve skimmed it, and I will work on it, I just don’t know how much. 

Random story: I knew I had started working on the Snape/Tonks one, but couldn’t find it anywhere, until I got the brilliant idea of going through the stack of cd’s I have sitting in a shoebox.  I couldn’t find it on any of the cd’s, so I thought I’d go through the box of…FLOPPY DISKS I had in the shoebox.  Until I realized I had no way of seeing what was on them.  And then I found a floppy disk drive in my desk- just plug it into your computer, and all of a sudden, you can use a floppy disk!  I found it on the 2nd one I went through, before throwing it into the shoebox.

Why I Love Hermione Granger

Posted in Character Spotlight, HP & The Giant Prehistoric Chicken by

Hermione is definitely one of my favorite characters in the Harry Potter series, which is why I think the focus on the Giant Prehistoric Chicken shifted over to Hermione. 

There are a lot of similarities I see between myself and Hermione.  She’s book-smart and loves learning, there’s a fear of failure, and there’s a sense of compassion for others.  We’re both only children, and while my hair isn’t bushy like hermione’s, it can get pretty frizzy.  Plus we both have brown hair.  And I do love the smell of books, especially new books, while Hermione loves the smell of new parchment.

Hermione’s also a very strong female character in the series, and shows that she is just as deserving of an education of Hogwarts as anyone else.  She’s not ashamed to be a muggle-born witch- and she’s actually very proud of being a muggle-born witch.  She definitely proves that with hard work, and some serious studying, you can be a very powerful witch (or wizard) no matter what your background is. 

One of my other favorite things about Hermione is wanting to free the house-elves, and fighting for those who are oppressed.  She also helps those in need (like all the times she helped Neville in potions), which makes her pretty awesome in my book.

So last month, I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part One, and one of the scenes that was memorable (besides both Hedwig and Dobby dying), was the opening scene, where Hermione modifies her parents’ memories.  I can’t even imagine having to modify someone’s memory, but it takes someone’s who pretty strong to do something like that.  And as a random side note, I downloaded the Deathly Hallows soundtrack today, and I’ve listened to the song that’s played when Hermione modifies her parents’ memories a good 5 or 10 times already.